Meta is updating the WhatsApp Business Platform pricing model starting October 1, ending unlimited free customer service replies and in-window transactional messaging for enterprise brands. While standard app users remain unaffected, businesses will now face new charges for utility messages and service replies exceeding 1,000 per month.
Meta has officially updated its pricing model for the WhatsApp Business Platform, ending the era of unlimited free customer service replies and in-window transactional messaging. While regular users and small businesses using the standard WhatsApp Business app will experience zero changes, enterprise brands relying on the platform at scale will now see increased messaging expenses. Here is a comprehensive breakdown of what is changing, the updated rates for businesses, and what remains completely free.
What Changes From October 1?
Until now, businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform could reply to customers for free within 24 hours of receiving a message. This included answering questions about products or orders, as well as sending order confirmations and delivery updates.
Beginning October 1, Meta will charge companies for sending order updates and other useful texts within this 24-hour window. For the first 1,000 service messages per month per business phone number, answering customer questions will still be free. Businesses will have to pay for extra answers after that.
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Utility texts sent after 24 hours were already charged for, so that rule doesn't change.
How Much Will Meta Charge?
Meta says that the normal rate for business messages in India is Rs 0.115 per delivered message, before GST. These messages include order confirmations and shipping reports. This costs about Rs 0.136 per message when 18% GST is added.
Businesses can send free utility messages 24 hours after a customer messages them until September 30. As of October 1, they will have to pay Rs 0.115 for each utility message delivered, but not GST. If a company sends out 1,000 order reports, it will pay Rs 115 before GST, or Rs 135.70 with 18% GST added on top of that.
The rate of texts changes based on the kind of message. On Meta, marketing messages like deals and sales are priced at Rs.0.8631 per message, while authentication messages like one-time passwords (OTPs) are priced at Rs.0.115 per message before GST.
Meta will give each business phone number the first 1,000 service replies every month for free starting October 1, 2026. After that, the rate for service texts will be the same as the rates for energy and authentication in that market.
How Businesses Should Prepare?
Brands should think about the following steps to keep costs down under the new structure:
Check Conversation Volumes: Look at the monthly reports to tell the difference between short, one-time questions and long, multi-message support chats.
Consolidate Support Responses: Teach customer service reps and chatbots how to answer questions in fewer, more detailed messages or through interactive WhatsApp Flows instead of sending a lot of short texts back and forth.
As a backup, you can use smart multi-channel routing to send transactional notifications over SMS or RCS when WhatsApp delivery isn't legally necessary.
